Third Order question

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Apparently the Code of Canon Law permits a person to be a member of more than one Third Order, though it’s not really encouraged. Did the 1917 Code permit this, or was membership to only one allowed? Thanks.
 
Apparently the Code of Canon Law permits a person to be a member of more than one Third Order, though it’s not really encouraged. Did the 1917 Code permit this, or was membership to only one allowed? Thanks.
Hello,

Do you know Latin, latinmasslover? Maybe that’s a silly question. Anyway, the 1917 code did allow it, with a certain condition attached, regarding sodalities and third orders. Here’s canon 693.2:

Eadem persona potest adscribi pluribus associationibus, salvo praescripto can. 705.

Canon 705 said: Nulla tertiariorum sodalita, sine apostolico indulto, adscribere potest sodales alius tertii Ordinis in eodem remanentes; singulis tamen sodalibus licet iusta de causa transire sive ab alio ad alium tertium Ordinem, sive ab alia ad aliam sodalitatem eiusdem tertii Ordinis.

Can you make enough sense out of that? I can offer my own “translation,” if necessary.

Dan
 
Hello again,

A translation would be something like this:

693.2: The same person can belong to several associations, keeping in mind the prescript of c. 705.

705: No sodality of tertiaries, without Apostolic indult, can enroll members of another Order while remaining in the other; individual members, however, for a just cause, can transfer from one third Order to another, or from one sodality of that third Order to another.

I had trouble with c. 705 so I had to look it up…

Dan
 
Apparently the Code of Canon Law permits a person to be a member of more than one Third Order, though it’s not really encouraged. Did the 1917 Code permit this, or was membership to only one allowed? Thanks.
Of course, different orders may require exclusive membership. IMO, it doesn’t make sense live with divided allegiances.

:blessyou:
 
To me, what is said there is that an individual can become a member of various associations, however not of** third orders**. Associations and third orders are very different, at least to me.🤷
 
Actually the1983 Code of Canon law, which is the only one currently in effect, also sort of permits this as well (i.e. by NOT mentioning that you can not be in more than one). However, each third order has their own rules regarding membership requirements. I know that the Third Order Lay Carmelites (O.Carm.) to which I belong do not permit membership in other third orders.
 
To me, what is said there is that an individual can become a member of various associations, however not of** third orders**. Associations and third orders are very different, at least to me.🤷
Since the 1983 Code of Canon Law came into effect, all Third Orders have been classified as Associations of the Faithful. A Third Order is a certain type of Association of the Faithful.

The old Code of Canon Law defined certain types of organizations, such as confraternities, sodalities, and third orders. The 1983 Code of Canon Law abolished these distinctions and groups all such organizations under Associations of the Faithful. Groups are still free to use words like “sodality” and “third order” to describe themselves, but they are no longer defined under Canon Law.

In a way, the 1983 Code of Canon Law gives organizations more freedom to define themselves, by removing many of the restrictions in the old Code. This has been beneficial for the church because we now have more freedom to found new types of organizations which wouldn’t have fit into any of the old categories!

For this reason, questions like the one raised in this thread are best answered by examining the constitutions of the individual Third Orders, because the Code of Canon Law does not regulate the specifics of Third Orders like it used to.

The correct taxonomy of organizations in the church can be found in Canons 294-329 and Canons 573-755.
 
To me, what is said there is that an individual can become a member of various associations, however not of** third orders**. Associations and third orders are very different, at least to me.🤷
Hi Brigid12,

I didn’t bother to really think about this but now that I have, and have checked a couple commentaries to be sure, I see that you are right regarding how the 1917 code understood “associations” and “third orders” in the topic under discussion.

Anyway, it was possible to be in more than one third order, with an indult, and be in more than one association.

Dan
 
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